This may not be the only reason but, I climbed Mt. Pico de Loro because someone (let’s name him Tsadiktus) requested me to take a picture of him atop the mountain’s summit. And so we invited Ronn, the friend that we met during our Talamitam–Batulao twin hike last December 2012, to be our guide for this hike. And Ronn invited 5 other friends and Chad invited 2 more… So we were 10.

It was September–that time of the year when the Philippines is frequently visited by typhoons. And as expected, the weather wasn’t that great for camping, so we opted for a day hike.

The trail is rocky–that’s a given… However, the downpour made it more challenging because the trail got muddy and slippery. It took us about 2.5 hours before we reached the campsite where we had our lunch and some refreshments…

…and yeah, where we did a lot of camwhoring! :) Because while we were at the campsite, just before ascending to the Parrot’s Beak and the Monolith, the weather cooperated and it was suddenly so full of sunshine!

Because these are my faves, here are few of the many (practice) pre-nup shots of Choi and Jheng! :) **I’ll have to give credits to Tsadiktus for most of the photos here**

Love is like a mountain, hard to climb; but once you get to the top, the view is beautiful.  – Daniel Monroe Tuttle

And then ‘twas time to ascend to the Parrot’s Beak—where the trail was steeper than the ones that we passed along before getting to the campsite. It took us about 15 minutes of exhausting trek to reach the Parrot’s Beak, where we had a view of the Monolith!

There it is!!!

We met some other groups at this spot; exchanged ‘hi’s’ and ‘hello’s’ and ‘take care’s’. It made me realize that the hiking trail is one of those places where you could meet pretty interesting (and I assume, kind) people! :)

And then we waited for our turn to climb the monolith. We waited until it was time for some real adrenaline rush!

We split into two groups, just so we could get photos of each group while on top of the monolith–which was a good idea! And so we had our fair share of monolith moments.

Being at the top scares me; reaching it challenges me! —Tsadiktus

That moment at the Monolith was all worth the scare and nervousness that I felt while climbing to be on top of it! It was an accomplishment, I believe. And as usual, being on top gave me a sense of fulfillment—that kind of feeling that I can’t explain to my mom everytime she asks me what I get when I travel, especially when I climb the mountains… that I always end up saying “happiness!” (full stop!) :)

After a couple of minutes at the Monolith, we had to start descending as the sky was slowly turning to grey. The descent was more difficult than the ascent, but I’m glad we all got by safely. It started to get a little foggy during our descent back to the campsite…

And then it drizzled. It rained. And our feet were full of mud again.

And we ran out of daylight just before we were back at the jump off point. We were tired, but we were happy, I assume so. :) We were inspired, I hope so—whether it was our first time, our second time, or our nth time to climb mountains.

“The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain — he is inspired by it.” — William Artur Ward

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Mount Pico de Loro in Cavite, Philippines
Date of Climb: September 28, 2013
With Tsadiktus and Ronn, and new friends: Jheng, Choi, Pam, Jay, Gelo and the two Gaws
**An entry to the 2014 Inspiration Travel Contest by WeSaidGoTravel.com.**